SLO County deputies honored for rescuing teen, saving lives, responding to fallen officer

More than 100 people gathered at the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday morning to celebrate the distinguished work of the department’s deputies.

People of all ages filled the crowd, from officers in uniform to their spouses and children.

First, SLO County Sheriff Ian Parkinson and Undersheriff Jim Voge presented pins to volunteer deputies, including members of the Search and Rescue Team, the Aero Squadron and the Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteer Patrol.

“The years of service are amazing for our volunteers,” Parkinson said. “We are very much in debt to them because they not only are constantly on call, but they contribute by training new people and providing us something that doubles our force.”

Parkinson also thanked friends and family of Sheriff’s Office staff for supporting their work.

“You’re the ones that are supporting them in one form or another at home,” Parkinson said. “We’re grateful that you allow us to have them half time.”

Then, the sheriff handed out several awards and medals.

Deputies honored for rescuing kidnapped teen from Mexico

The Sheriff’s Office granted the Meritorious Service Award to eight deputies for locating a missing teenager in Mexico last summer.

In July, Alilianna “Lily” Trujillo, 15, was visiting family in Nipomo from Arizona when she went missing.

Deputies discovered that a 38-year-old man, posing as a teenage girl online, convinced Trujillo to run away with him to Mexico, SLO County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Tony Cipolla said.

A 20-year-old woman drove the pair to Tijuana, according to Cipolla.

When the two adults re-entered the United States days later, the sheriff’s deputies arrested and questioned them. The SLO County Sheriff’s Office then collaborated with the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the Mexican authorities to locate the Arizona teen, Cipolla said.

On July 11, Mexican authorities rescued Trujillo and returned her to the United States.

“Detectives worked 10 days straight with little rest,” Cipolla said. “The skill, professionalism and tenacity demonstrated by the detectives on this case should be commended.”

Deputies Dave Menghrajani, Matthew Terrell, Gower Slane, Ian McFarland, Chad Guiton, James Wyett, Spencer Garrett and Luke Weimer won the award.

Deputies who responded to slain SLO officer honored

On May 10, 2021, the San Luis Obispo Police Department called the Sheriff’s Office to report a fallen officer, Cipolla said.

Sheriff’s Deputies Mark Lewis, Andrew Mora and Rainer Bodine were first to arrive on the scene to assist SLO police.

The trio “devised a tactical plan to assess and rescue the fallen officer and engage the alleged shooter if necessary,” Cipolla said. “Without hesitation or concern for their safety, the deputies did what had to be done and advanced on the suspect’s location.”

The deputies entered the home without cover and confirmed that San Luis Obispo police Det. Luca Benedetti had been killed in a shootout while serving a search warrant at the residence.

The 37-year-old resident of the home, Edward Zamora Giron, shot and killed Benedetti.

Giron also died in the shootout.

The three deputies confirmed the two deaths and cleared the rest of the residence, Cipolla said.

“Their ability to arrive at a chaotic and dynamic situation, formulate a tactical plan in the moment and then execute that plan without hesitation or thought of risk to themselves was fearless, courageous and valiant,” Cipolla said.

The Sheriff’s Department awarded Distinguished Service Medals to the three deputies for their service.

Deputies Brandon Cutler, Andrew Mora, Jeremy Douglas and Hank Abbas also earned a Distinguished Service Medal for rescuing a woman from a dangerous domestic violence incident, Cipolla said.

Deputies celebrated for saving lives

Also at the ceremony, 16 deputies were awarded Lifesaving Medals for saving people’s lives on the job.

Seven of those deputies intervened with separate suicide attempts at the SLO County Jail, Cipolla announced at the ceremony.

Those deputies include Cory Bright, Francisco Lopez Valencia, Melissa Van Horbek, Bryan Green, Lacey Silveira, Amanda Guillory and Greg Ellis, Cipolla said.

“If the deputies in the jail were not paying attention to the behaviors, they were not doing their checks — these (rescues) wouldn’t have happened,” Parkinson said. “It’s their diligent work that allowed them to spot somebody in distress and act upon it.”

Sheriff’s Office Background Manager Gina Davis earned a Lifesaving Medal, too. While on the clock, Davis saw a sedan collide with an embankment and flip onto its roof on Highway 101, Cipolla said. Davis immediately called 911, then pulled three men out of the vehicle with the help of another bystander.

Deputies Cedric Adams, Victor Taracevicz and Orlando Ortega earned medals for intervening with an overdose, and Sgt. Ethan Strobridge got a medal for performing the Heimlich maneuver on a dispatcher who was choking.

Deputies Jerrod Place, Jesus Trinidad, Kyle Sternjacob and Johnathan Howard earned medals from rescuing a missing person after a suicide attempt, Cipolla said.